Legislation and Regulation
CURRENT ACTIONS
RHODE ISLAND CHILDREN’S PRODUCT SAFETY BILL
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW TO PROTECT KIDS IN RHODE ISLAND FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THEIR TOYS & OTHER PRODUCTS! The lead recalls were just the tip of the iceberg. We must act now to avoid harm to any more children !
Here is a chance to really make a difference in less than a minute! Support our Open Letter to the RI General Assembly, calling for action on legislation to protect RI children from endocrine disrupting chemicals (Note to environmentalists - these same hormone mimickers wind up in water, fish - and all of us!)
**SUPPORT THE CHILDREN’S PRODUCT SAFETY ACT, H7812, NOW MOVED TO THE RI HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE! URGE THE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO VOTE THE BILL OUT FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE FULL HOUSE! Click Here For Committee Contact Information:
**SIGN THE OPEN LETTER TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR SAFER CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS & GROUND WATER IN RI . Read the full letter & legislative information, using the links below, then go to www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/736773429, sign, and share with others. Let us know if you can circulate a copy of the petition at your workplace or elsewhere - or print out a copy of the letter along with its signature pages, and send them to us.
It makes no sense to continue to expose children to chemicals that raise such serious questions when alternatives are readily available and in use around the world. Do you want your children or grandkids to be subjected to suspect carcinogens and hormone while waiting for 100 percent certainty about their safety? Could you look them in the eye if they developed any of the health effects about which we’ve been warned?
Contact me with any questions or to help with further action.
Liberty Goodwin, Director,
Toxics Information Project (TIP),
P.O. Box 40441, Providence, RI 02940,
E-Mail: liberty@toxicsinfo.org
Tel. 401-351-9193.
2008 Open Letter on Kids' Product Safety Legislation in Rhode Island
Flyer on Children's Product Legislation in Rhode Island
Breast Cancer Fund Testimony on Children's Product Safety Legislation
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UNITED STATES CONGRESS
CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT
***URGE YOUR CONGRESSPEOPLE TO SUPPORT A STRONG CPSC BILL IN THE HOUSE-SENATE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE - INCLUDING THE FEINSTEIN BAN ON PHTHALATES IN CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS!
In March, the Senate approved the Consumer Product Safety bill, along with an amendment offered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat-California) that would ban the sale, manufacture and importation of children's products and childcare articles containing certain phthalates, effective from 1 January 2009. This provision is very similar, although not identical, to the prohibition on phthalates that was approved by the state of California last year, which is also scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2009. Specifically, the bill would prohibit children's products and childcare articles from containing di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) in concentrations exceeding 0.1 percent, while children's products and childcare articles that can be placed in a child's mouth would be banned if they contain diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) or di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) in concentrations exceeding 0.1 percent. The term "children's product" is defined in the legislation as "a toy or any other product designed or intended by the manufacturer for use by a child when the child plays," while "childcare articles" are defined as "all products designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep, relaxation, or the feeding of children, or to help children with sucking or teething."
Manufacturers would be required to use the least toxic alternative when replacing phthalates and would not be able to use any of the following substances as a replacement: (i) carcinogens rated by the Environmental Protection Agency as A, B or C carcinogens; (ii) substances listed as known or likely human carcinogens or suggestive of being human carcinogens, as described in the "List of Chemicals Evaluated for Carcinogenic Potential"; or (iii) reproductive toxicants that cause birth defects or reproductive or developmental harm as identified by the EPA.
BREAST CANCER & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACT
** SUPPORT THE BREAST CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACT.
TELL YOUR SENATORS & REPRESENTATIVE TO CO-SPONSOR THIS BILL AND GET IT OUT OF COMMITTEE FOR A VOTE!
This federal legislation would establish a national strategy to study the links between the environment and breast cancer. This legislation would authorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a peer reviewed research program of grants for establishment of collaborative centers of research to study environmental factors that are believed to contribute to the development of breast cancer. It is proposed that $30 million per year for 6 years would be authorized for this purpose. Under a competitive, peer-reviewed grant-making process that would involve trained consumers in the decision making process, the NIH director would award grants to conduct multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary research using a broad definition of environment through a national network of collaborative centers. be funded each year.
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FOLLOW-UPS ON EARLIER RHODE ISLAND LEGISLATION
SCHOOL LAWN PESTICIDE LEGISLATION
Our legislation to remove lawn pesticides from the grounds of schools and day care centers came very close to approval in the RI Senate Environment & Agriculture Committee during the 2007 session. However, in the end, the committee voted to ask for information gathering and discussion by DEM, DOH, RIDE and the School Committees, to result in a report to the legislature in November. The report was submitted, and RI DEM is following up on this.
**CONTINUE SUPPORT FOR RI SCHOOL & DAY CARE LAWN PESTICIDE BAN -- IN A NEW WAY The RI Dept. of Environmental Management is trying to educate schools to adopt safer practices by preparing and following Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans for mostly organic land care. Ask your local school about their pesticide policies and practices. Encourage them to learn and utilize safer ways to maintain playing fields. For useful articles you can share, see the Pesticide-Free Playing Fields section of our website: www.toxicsinfo.org/playingfields.htm . And, here’s another resource to use:
PESTICIDE-FREE PLAYING FIELDS DVD
( An excellent resource for educating those responsible for care of school and athletic fields).
Your children and others run, play and roll around on fields provided by their schools and sports associations. Make sure they are not exposed to toxins there that can trigger asthma attacks or contribute to learning disabilities, endocrine disruption and/or childhood cancer. A fine, 7 1/2 minute DVD from the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection shows how schools can transition to healthier practices.
**SHOW THE CT ORGANIC LAND CARE VIDEO TO GROUPS OR DECISIONMAKERS! Contact TIP to borrow a DVD or VHS copy, and more information on how you can help.
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RI SCHOOL PESTICIDE BILL INFORMATION
View the Final Amended 2007 Replacement Bill
View the Previous 2007 Amended Version of S560 Sub A
Environment and Agriculture Committee Member Contact Information
View Testimony as Adapted for the 2007 Bill
View Testimony from 2005
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RI INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BILL
A 2006 Resolution from the Rhode Island State Legislature
A bill calling for minimum standards for Indoor Environmental Quality was drafted by GCD in cooperation with TIP, and introduced in both the RI State Senate & House in 2006. A hearing was held on March 8, before the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, another March 28, before the House Environment & Natural Resources Committee & on April 10, before House Health & Human Services. On May 23, 2006, the RI State Senate passed a Resolution Urging the Department of Administration to Use Environmentally-Safe & Health-Friendly Cleaning Products in State Facilities & Workplaces, based on the proposed bill, S2627.
2008 Update: A bill requiring environmentally friendly cleaning products in all schools was introduced in 2007 and 2008, but was not acted upon. We expect to continue efforts to obtain stronger legislation and/or an Executive Order from the Governor, addressing this concern. Meanwhile, the RI Dept. of Health has taken steps to encourage and educate schools in green cleaning practices and materials.
**SPEAK TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR SCHOOL MAINTENANCE IN YOUR TOWN ABOUT SWITCHING TO ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY CLEANING PRODUCTS! Tell them that this change is usually cost-neutral or may actually save money. Free assistance is available to help them do it.
Articles
States Sue EPA for Files on Household Pollutants
Virginia Volatile Organic Compound Regulations
Fact Sheet - Massachusetts Legislation on Safer Cleaning Products
NJ, MA, NY Green Cleaning Actions, 3/2006
NJ Green Cleaning Executive Order
2004 Vermont Governor's Proclamation
